During too-close-to-call times, it takes banding together to get the job done.
That’s the mindset behind an effort by several progressive organizations to ensure that pro-democracy funding reaches state-based groups on the ground in a timely fashion to address the most pressing priorities in the lead-up to the November 5 election.
Building for Democracy Education Fund is a collaborative funding strategy of four established national donor networks: The State Leadership Project, the Democracy Alliance Pooled Fund, Movement Voter Fund and Way to Rise. Rather than applying a specific issue or constituency lens, the collaborative of nonprofit organizations asks state groups what they most need in order to get voters to the polls. The group aims to be pragmatic, nimble and deliberate in its grantmaking, according to the fund’s leadership, to help grassroots organizations register and educate voters, counter misinformation, implement election protections and make sure citizens have access to the ballot, particularly in historically marginalized communities.
The collaborative wants to address what it sees as a void in democracy giving. “Building for Democracy Education Fund principals have been in regular conversation since 2022 as we have watched massive dips in progressive philanthropy negatively impact pro-democracy efforts in states,” said Committee on States Executive Director Erin Egan. The State Leadership Project is the 501(c)(3) sister donor network to the Committee on States, a network of state-based donor alliances that aims to build progressive governing power across the nation.
While there are some bright spots in state-focused democracy giving, Egan pointed to a general downward trend. “Since 2020, there has been a significant decline in resources going into home-grown, state-based organizations tasked with year-round civic engagement work, research and messaging and nonpartisan election year voter contact efforts,” Egan said. “Given this decline, plus the escalating threats to democracy, our organizations decided to officially link arms in 2024 in the hopes that we could be more effective, strategic and impactful if we worked together.”
The Building for Democracy strategy is also an attempt to grow the donor pie, according to Egan, “to inspire more giving among current supporters, identify sources for new giving and offer donor communities for folks to remain a part of even after the election is over.” To inspire new levels of giving, the collaborative agreed to align around urgent, nonpartisan funding needs in a set of key states where there has been a history of disenfranchisement and to collectively fundraise to meet those needs.
Since its launch in April, the collaborative has raised or directed more than $13 million in about a dozen states, according to Building for Democracy’s leadership, with programming grants in the $50,000 to $400,000 range. A large portion of that money was disbursed early in the year, when democracy dollars go farther and grantees have more time to build capacity and do the work, added Egan. (See IP’s coverage of All By April, which sought to galvanize democracy donors to give earlier in the cycle this year, with some success.)
Through a robust vetting process, donors receive strategic intelligence to inform their funding decisions, Egan said. She also stressed that the collaborative prioritizes organizations in the pro-democracy arena for the long haul, as well as nonprofits in the states that have the most at stake.
The work is challenging. Attracting new donors to this type of funding — particularly in a presidential election year, and given the shifting landscape — remains a struggle despite the collaborative’s best efforts, said Egan, who added that describing what Building for Democracy Education Fund is and isn’t was also challenging at a time when a goal of the group is to reduce donor confusion by providing one-stop shopping for funding recommendations.
There were other roadblocks. “We knew this election would be an amalgamation of the threats we witnessed in 2022: giving fatigue, attacks on voting rights, difficulty to break through in a candidate-centric media environment,” said Tory Gavito, cofounder and president of Way to Win. “We wanted to work together early, to ensure we were putting forward a bigger, centralized, collective voice behind the needs of the grassroots across the states.”
Way to Win is a national hub for donors, emphasizing a data-based approach to funding and a focus on power-building among communities of color, those most impacted by injustice and historically underrepresented voters. That includes Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI, and other racial, ethnic or religious minorities; young, elderly, LGBTQ+, rural, low-income, differently abled, justice-system impacted, students, renters, immigrants, non-native English speakers, and anyone else who may face hurdles voting. Way to Win works through several arms, including the 501(c)(3) Way to Rise. (For more, see this 2022 story by IP’s Martha Ramirez.)
This year has been dominated by “bad vibes” narratives on the economy and the border — issues that increase a scarcity mindset in the American electorate and breed divisive, polarized politics, Gavito said. In such a toxic climate, uplifting messages that empower voter agency are critical — and also not enough to reach first-time or low-propensity voters. “The most viral TikTok doesn’t guarantee a new voter knows where to go to make their voice heard,” Gavito said. “The grassroots mobilization efforts must step in and turn out hard to reach high-potential voters.”
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Engaging democracy funders old and new
A collective goal of Building for Democracy is reaching a diverse batch of funders, including those who want to fund state-centered, pro-democracy programming but might not have the in-house capacity to do the research and due diligence on their own. One of the strategy’s selling points: It quickly turns grants around, often at a faster pace than may be possible for foundations hamstrung by internal processes. The collaborative also works with funders who already fund in this space and who are interested in doing more — in particular, resourcing the most immediate funding priorities.
The Building for Democracy Education Fund, whose fiscal sponsor is the Goodnation Foundation, is supported by well-known players in the pro-democracy philanthropy world, including the JPB Foundation, the Democracy Fund and Tides. Funders also include family foundations that support democracy programming, including the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund and the Merle Chambers Fund.
“Building for Democracy Education Fund really set out to engage the interest of new funders who are looking to advance and protect democracy in the states and bring them in,” said its Washington, D.C.-based director, Trish Welte, a solo consultant with political roots in the Midwest who specializes in progressive donor and nonprofit advising and strategy. “It’s been much more of a focus on not just talking to the usual folks. We need the folks who have been doing it a long time and we need to engage a larger group.”
The collaborative’s leadership is ambitious. “We’re seeking to educate and support donors looking to make the biggest impact at the top in this election cycle,” Welte said. “We are focused on programs that cut across groups, geographies, tactics and audiences and come from this 360-degree view of the dynamics in each state. We’re trying to fully fund or close budget gaps. And where we aren’t able to do that, we amplify the need to our ambassador community and beyond.” Members of Building for Democracy Education Fund’s ambassador network include DAFs, family foundations and other funders.
“Our lens is the most urgent 501(c)(3) civic engagement and voter education in states where Building for Democracy Education Fund has existing infrastructure, where state-based groups are working together to build collective power, particularly in engaging populations who frequently face added obstacles to casting their ballots,” Welte told IP. “There’s too much at stake to not work together and be as aligned as possible and make our collective funding as potent as possible.”
Supporting donors is another collaborative goal. “We also work one on one with funders to better understand what they’re looking for,” Welte said. “Some people are interested in specific states, some people want to know where they can close a budget gap. It’s all about the most impactful work advancing and protecting democracy right now. We want to educate citizens about how to cast a ballot in any given state. So many rules have changed in the past two years, so it’s really important to make sure that folks understand and have that information.”
Making an impact, one state at a time
In practice, the collaborative’s strategy plays out in different ways in different states. In North Carolina, for instance, one of the first Building for Democracy Education Fund gifts was a $300,000 grant to fund voter registration in the rural, eastern portion of the state, with significant pockets of Black and brown voters.
In Montana, meanwhile, the collaborative supports efforts to ensure that native voters in that state — both on and off reservations — have access to the ballot and have the information they need to vote, according to Welte.
In Arizona, the collaborative helped support efforts to close out rural voter engagement programming gaps that were about, among other things, combatting disinformation across three counties in that state, Welte said.
The funding strategy has been critical to pro-democracy efforts in Michigan, too. “Building for Democracy Education Fund has supported our work by moving money that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to access,” said Building for Democracy grantee Amy Chapman, executive director of the nonprofit Michigan Civic Education Fund. “The organizations that we support have significant voter education programs reaching into traditionally disadvantaged communities. BFDEF helped to considerably close the gaps by reaching out to its vast network of donors. This was of particular importance this year, when fundraising was challenging due to the dynamic political environment.”
Pro-democracy funding isn’t just about the presidential vote. “Everything is at stake in the election from the presidency to down-ballot, nonpartisan races such as the state Supreme Court,” said Chapman. “Michigan has made great strides over the past several years on expanding election access, but that means that there is a lot of voter education that is at the top of our pro-democracy work, to ensure that everyone understands the new voting laws.”
There is always, of course, more to do. There are still funding gaps for civic education programs, particularly in traditionally disenfranchised communities in suburban and rural parts of Michigan, noted Chapman. “We are working with Building for Democracy Education Fund to address these gaps.”
Giving for an October surprise — and the long haul
Such education is important at a time when many voters feel democracy is in crisis. “We’re seeing the rise of an authoritarian agenda and it’s being codified in state legislatures across the country,” said Welte. “We have to find hope and excitement for voter turnout. Right now, the vibes are high, there’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm for getting out there and talking to people.”
“It truly is the most important election of our lifetime,” said AL Advising founder Alexandra Acker-Lyons, who consults with donors, including the Chambers Fund, a Building for Democracy Education Fund supporter. “And it will be very, very close up and down the ballot. Dig deep, add a zero, and give as much as you can. Then get ready to give again on January 2, as all of these groups have to turn around and work their legislative sessions plus federal advocacy.”
Heading into November and beyond, Acker-Lyons also highlighted the need for pro-democracy philanthropists to stay nimble and responsive, including around election protection support. “There’s always an October funding surprise. I encourage donors to keep 10% of their budget for those last-minute needs,” Acker-Lyons said. “This is particularly true at a time when everything is competitive (presidential, other federal and state legislative races, ballot measures and more) and when we have known unknowns like election interference and issues around election certification.”
